Toy fence



E. G. HINES TOY FENCE sept. 25, 1923.

Filed Feb. 5, 1922 2 sheets-snaai 1 E. G. HINES Sept. 25, 1923,.

TOY FENCE 2 sheets-sheet 2 'Filed Feb. s, 1922 gunnen* 015 Elrrcmmxatented Sept. 25, 1923.

-Enivrn e. EINES, or nnuivis, PENiisYnvaNia. l

'roY France f Application filed'rebruary 3, 1922. SerialV1`.\To.*533,'871.

To all whommay concern.' 1

Be it (known that L EDWIN' G. l-linns, as citizen of the UnitedStates,Yresiding at Drums, Vin Vthe county offjLuz'erne and State ofl.ennsylvania,have'invented certainnevv and useful Improvements in ToyFences,-of which the following is a'speciiication. "l This 'inventionrelates to 'improvements yin toy fences such as' arev employed about l0Christmas trees or otherwise made useof by children inv their play, andone-of the'prifmary objects/of the invention fis to provide a vtoy fencestructure v'which Willlsimulate a split rail Vfence Nwhen properly setup and arranged. k I f Another-object ofthelinventionis to pro- I videAa toy fence which may be'convenientl-y Y completely knocked down-andits parts again assembled as desired or maybe folded into more er1-lesscompact form' so as to'in either event, prepare it for shipment or to'bestored :uva-y when not in'useff v- `frnother'obfect ofthe invention' istofpro# vide a. novel means forconnecting the meetw ing or overlappingends of the rails comprising relatively.A Vadjacent fence sections whichconnecting means' Will permit ofjrela'- tive angularadjustment of thesaidrsectio'ns so that-the'fence asa Whole may be--arranged in any formvfound most-desirable; an'd'its sections furthermore relatively folded;Another important object of the invention l' is to provide novel meansfor bracingy the fence ina set-up position and novel means forestablishing connection between the bracing posts of the fence and therailsc'omprising thefence sections.` 1 l In the accompanying drawingsFigure 1 is a 'perspective view ofl he fence 40 structure embodying theIinvention lset up; the gate section of the structure being showndemounted;` Y l y Figure 2 is -aiview partly in Aelevation and partly insection IillustratingYin' detail 'the arrangement vand construction ofthe con# necting means between tyvo 'adj acent sections of the fence;and l Figure 3 is a vieW partly in` plan and partly `in section of thestructure fshovvn in Figure2.v C l The fence structure embodying theinvention comprises end sections indicated in general. by the numeral 1,a plurality of intermediate ysections indicated in general 'by v'joinedsections.

the numeral 2, anda gate section indicated general by'thefnumeral 3; 1'Y Each section A1 of the or less distance beyond the respective post 0fence a` vplurality *of longitudinal parallell ra'ilsffl Which at oneend extend betvveenpostQ-memmembers 55 andthese projecting endsxvhichare indicated by the numeral 7',- are designed to interat- Wahf the#projeeangzfenas., e of railsf9 Whichcomprise the gate section a sheetmetal strap l0-being formed intofa,vloop and secured atiits sideportions togthe said rails 9 as illustrated.A in" l3`igure'1. Y In Y 'ithis manner provision is made .for support-VV ingv the fence sectionSbe'tvveen the end sec'- tions 1 andthus completing theenclosure de"fined by the fence as a Whole; 1

'The .aaneen-tends Vor the 'mns @faatje-f cent ones of the sectionsY 1and 2 throughout"Y t" the entire seriesof sections' are interfitted`andr Where they Yoverlap are forinedl :with

openings '-l1. lThese openings 11 register.

sof

when the rails of adjacent, fence sections-are Y inter-fitted as shownin Figure 2 of the'dra-W- ings and accomino date-the fence posts Whichare'indicated 1n genera-l Vby the numeral l212.

Each of these posts comprises a bas'elifand v Van upstanding 'post'member' 14' the f 'upperVv Y end portion of'vvhich' is preferablyifthreadediy as' indicated'by the numeral 15'. The post members'lll may be made of Wire or small rod material andare united at theirlower ends to the respective bases-13- in any suitablemanner, thesebasesfbeing for feiample` 5 of circular disklike `:t'or1n. yThe postmem- ,.1 Y

bers 1liY fit suiiciently freely in the openings 975 11 1in the railendsto provi-de for jrelative pivotal or angular movementfof the'fence'y sections about the posts 12 asY pivots, andthe said rail ends ofthe fence sections arehelfd 0, 10

assembled Withjthe Vposts Vby means of nuts 16 whicharerthreadedfontothe upper Yends 15 of the said postsand engage4orsubstan# l tially engage the uppermost` l rail ofthe" In the manner"de? scribed, the several Asections 1 and 2 are connected end to end andmay be relatively dis-` posed at various angles so as to impart tothestructure asa Whole,V when set up, any deapair of post members indicatedby the numeral 17 and provided with beveled lower ends 18 havingperforations ,319 V.through which ksecuring elements such for example asnails or tacks 20 may bedriven for the purpose ,ofY securing theseendsto the floor or other surface upon .which the fence structuleis vSet up.The post members 17 are connectedin relatively. crossed relation attheir upper portionsby means which is adapted 1 to alsoY VestablishY,connection between these members and the fence sections with whichthey are associated, and this means com-V prises,in each instanceyacoiled-spring 21 having its terminal portions lit-ted through openings22 formed diametrically in the members'l?, the extremities of the saidportio-ns kof the spring being bent to partly embrace the members17asindicated by the .numeral 23. In assembling the bracing post members17V withl the vfence sections 2, the end portions of the/ upper rails ofthe fence l sections are fitted into the coiled springs 21 as'bestshownin Figures 2 and 3 of the drawings and with the said post members 17straddling the fence sections at their juncture. The `upper end portionsof the posts 14, when fitted through the uppermost rails of the fencesections,rproject between the convolutions of the springs 21 and in jthis manner the springs are retained in place uponV the said upperrails. At this point it will be evident that any relative vangularmovement of the Vmembers 17 will be against the tension of the spring`21 and therefore when the lower ends of these niembers 17 'arerelatively separated a 4greater or less distance,- the springs will betensioned, andv the said lower `endsimray. then be tacked or otherwisesecured to -the sun face upon which the-structure is set up. Thistensioning of the connections between'the part-s serves to more firmlybrace the structure than would otherwise be possible, and therefore theStructure throughout 4its entire length.V will be substantially rigidlysupportedand braced. The springs 21 may ot course be adjusted;longitudinally upon the uppermost rails of the fence sections and Vtheupper ends of th posts 14 may be engaged between any selected two of thecon-V volutions of the respective spring 21. Ii desired, other rails,indicated by the numeral 24 may beY loosely laid between the crossed.upperends of the post members 17 so as v Y to further simulate a splitrail fence.

Havino' thus described the invention what is claimel as new is: Y

1. In a toy fence structure, fence sections connected at theirends forrelative angular adjustment and including rails, and a bracing poststructure Vcomprising crossed post membersl andfmeans mutuallyconnectingvsaid members and connected also with one of said rails, thesaid means comprising a coiled spring anchored atv its ends to the postmembers and having its coils engaging about one of said rails.

2. In a toy fence structure, fence sections connected lat their ends forrelative angular adjustment and including rails, and a brac# ing poststructure comprising. crossed post members and means mutually connectingsaid members and'connected also with one of said rails, the said meanscomprising a coiled spring anchored at its ends to the post members andhaving its coils engaging about one of said rails`,-the connecting meansfor the fence sections. comprisinga post pivotally fitting` through 'theends of the rails and passing also through the coils of the spring. A Yy 3.V In a toy fence structure, jfence sections embodying rails.interiitted at their ends,

means extending through the rail ends and 'f connecting the sections forrelative angular adjustment, crossed post members disposed tostraddlegthe connected ends of the secti0ns,;and a coil spring havingits kcoils fitting one of the rails ,of one of the sections and havingits'ends anchored to the said post members and yieldably resistingrelative angular adjustment of the said post mem- 'i 4. In a toy felicestructure, fence sections embodying railsinterfitted at their' ends,means extending through the rail ends and connecting the sections forrelative angular adjustment,.cr'ossed post members disposed to straddlethe connected endsof the secV tions, andv a ycoil spring having itscoilsitting one of the rails ofV one of the sections and havingits endsanchored to the said ypost members and yieldably resisting relativeangular adjust-ment of the said post mem` V bers, the lower'endsrof thepost members being beveled and adapted to be secured to a surface uponwhich the structure is set up. n

In testimony whereof I aiiix my signature.

EDWIN G. HINES. [L.s,`|

